Music is an “integral part of my identity,” says David Yoshiaki Ko.His musical life began at four, in Japan, when David convinced his mother to accompany him to a piano studio where he could take piano lessons. When he was eight, and living with his family in San Francisco, David continued his piano studies at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he also took cello and composition lessons.

After graduating from high school at sixteen, David attended a summer master class at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. While there, he was invited by Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling to study with him at the Hanover State University of Music and Drama. Now seventeen, David spends several months of the year going back and forth between Germany and America.

In 2007 and 2008, David received scholarships from the Chopin Foundation of the United States. He also won first place prizes at both the Pacific Musical Society Competition in San Francisco and the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition at StanfordUniversity. In Germany, he was a prizewinner at Lindau’s Rotary Jugend-Musikpris.

One of the reasons David chose to participate in the PianoArts competition is the diversity of the competition rounds that include solo, chamber music, concerto repertory, as well as speaking about music. He wants to change the impression that classical music is dry and pretentious by helping audiences to experience the emotions and thoughts of the composer. David is able to see the impact of these kinds of programs when he performs outreach programs, such as performances in retirement residences and in 2008, participating in the Peninsula Symphony’s program for children in grades four and five in the San FranciscoBay area.